China takes baby steps in robotics field

This century is all about various advancements in technology. Robots, a vision from the past, has now become a central topic for research in quiet a few universities. China also has joined the list of countries researching on creating robots.

chinese quadruped robot hqpu5 54

Dr. Wei Wang’s team at the Institute of automation in Beijing developed a new quadruped robot called FROG. The FROG was built for the concept Optimal Gait. The FROG, though a four-legged robot, is not the same as Boston Dynamic’s BigDog. The BigDog can walk along aside humans at a reasonably good pace whereas the FROG can move at a very slow pace. Dr. Wang hopes his creation will be the endoskeleton of a robotic triceratops.

The FROG was developed and researched to test quadruped gait control, gait transition, and other locomotion algorithms. The FROG runs on DC motors, while the BigDog is more complex and uses hydraulic motors.

The FROG-1 is the first guinea version of their concept and it needs to be further improvised. It stands tall at a height of 1 meter and weighs 55kgs. There are two DC motors in each of its legs - one on the hip and another on the knee. The robot also has one passive compliant prismatic DOF at each toe. Joint angle sensors, 3-axis acceleration sensor, 3-axis gyro sensor, foot-ground contact sensors, and ultrasonic sensors are included in the design as sensing devices. The robot also carries a pan-tilt camera. The robot carries a computer within it which is used for sensor and actuator control. The computer works on a Linux platform. The computer interacts with a host computer and the robot is powered through a tether.

Dr. Wang built the FROG for two reasons – first because a Chinese film director who had recently worked on an animation movie on dinosaurs suggested that Dr. Wang make a walking triceratops robot. The second reason being his kindergarten going daughter and her friends wanted him to make robotic animals. Two good enough reasons he could not say no to.

The FROG is only the first phase of his project and if he gets sufficient funds and resources he will continue to work on it and probably challenge BigDog.

Source: IEEEspectrum